Lance Henriksen set for Hannibal, Gillian Anderson and Gina Torres to appear

Even if you don’t know the name Lance Henriksen you know the face, and you’ve certainly seen him in a number of genre classics.

You may have first seen him at the end of Dog Day Afternoon, then he broke through working for James Cameron in Piranha II, which Cameron joked was the best flying piranha movie ever made.

Then Henriksen almost played The Terminator, he still got a role in the film, then he played Bishop in Aliens, and subsequently starred in Near Dark, Pumpkinhead, episodes of Tales From the Crypt, Millennium, and much more (Henrikson has been in over 150 movies). In short, his geek credentials are clear, and how he’s going to be a guest on the upcoming Hannibal series.

Hannibal is one of two major horror shows coming, along with Bates Motel, and a Hannibal series may not be such a bad idea. If it could be like The X-Files, or even better, Kolchak the Night Stalker, it could make a great show.

It would also be a great twist to have a psychotic cannibal helping the police solve crimes, and Hannibal’s always been a fantastic, intelligent, articulate, and terrifying character that’s a screenwriter’s dream.

As Deadline points out, in addition to Henriksen, the show will also have guest appearance from Gillian Anderson, and Gina Torres from Firefly. There’s no official date for when Hannibal could debut, but it could be near the end of the TV season, or possibly in the summer.

As NBC President Jennifer Salke told Collider, "It’s very unique. With [showrunner] Bryan Fuller’s imagination and the production value that he’s brought to a procedural show, it’s [going to be] like a procedural you’ve never seen before." Apparently like the movie adaptation of Silence of the Lambs, which was actually very tastefully done, Salke continued, "It’s not gratuitous in the way you might be thinking."

The first two Hannibal films, Manhunter and Silence of the Lambs, were both tremendous, then the Hannibal movies subsequently lost their way. If the famous maneater could have a great comeback via TV, we’re definitely all for it, and it’s going to be great to see Henriksen, one of our great geek heroes, going up against him this year.